Budget Blinds Franchisees Navigate COVID-19 and Hit Record Sales

Like so many business owners at the beginning of the pandemic, Budget Blinds franchise owners Lloyd Biggs and Adam Berryman had major decisions to make. Though the business partners have been on an upward trajectory since they took over the North County San Diego location five years ago, the pandemic created some challenges. Now, after some prudent decision-making in March, Biggs and Berryman are seeing astonishing growth. 

The business partners met years ago and bonded over a love of SEC football. Biggs, a retired Marine officer, spent the majority of his career in defense contracting and worked his way to the position of senior vice president at his last firm. When he met Arkansas Razorbacks fan Berryman, the two began talking about where they hoped to take their careers in the next few years — Berryman traveled a great deal for work and was looking to spend more time with his family, while Biggs was looking to mitigate the amount of stress in his career. After the pair heard about Budget Blinds in 2015, they took steps to buy into the franchise.

“The thing we loved about the brand right away was the business model,” said Biggs. “Being a good Marine, I know how to follow orders. Budget Blinds already cracked the code on how to be successful in the industry, and we’ve been following their lead. So far, we’ve been successful.”

Biggs said that it was his business partner who initially discovered the Budget Blinds brand. Berryman originally heard a franchisee recruitment advertisement on Sirius XM, but he decided to seriously look into the brand when a member of his own family recommended it.

“Adam’s mom had recently worked with a young lady who owned a Budget Blinds location, who sung high praises of the brand throughout their time together,” said Biggs. “Both the advertisement and the recommendation were enough for him to begin looking into the brand. He brought me into the loop, and the rest is history.”

Biggs and Berryman saw almost instant success within their first year with the franchise. According to Biggs, the previous owners made roughly $1 million in the first year — Biggs and Berryman made $1.2 million in theirs. For two owners that just took over the business, the steep path to growth was impressive and noted by brand leadership. 

Now, five years later, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the California economy, the business partners are seeing a boom in revenue. With so many people spending more time at home, Biggs said their customers are finally finding time to start or finish projects they’ve been putting off — a trend that has helped their numbers in the summer months. Although April hit a total of $165,000 in sales, the trajectory has gone up each month with $321,000 in June and $313,000 in both July and August. Biggs credits their success to critical decisions they made early on in the pandemic, as well as to their amazing staff.

“We couldn’t do any of what we do without our employees,” said Biggs. “The pandemic admittedly did create a situation where some of our employees were afraid to go into people’s houses, which is obviously pretty critical to our line of work. We did offer voluntary layoffs and supported these employees with severance as we would have with a normal layoff. It gave employees who were still willing to perform the job an opportunity to stay and work.”

Biggs says the Budget Blinds corporate team has also been incredibly supportive throughout this process. The brand suspended royalty and advertising fees for April, May and June, with some extension into July for franchisees hit particularly hard by the pandemic. The brand also worked with vendors to establish a rebate on sales for their franchisees. Biggs said he was impressed with the leadership team’s willingness to get creative in these difficult times.

“They’ve been amazing,” said Biggs. “Before COVID-19 hit the fan, the company was already investing in technology. Then here comes the pandemic, and we were already locked and loaded to operate under the new conditions. They also came up with financial measures to ensure franchisees could stay afloat. We’ve always been impressed with how supportive their team is, but this was a new level.” 

As the pandemic continues, Biggs and Berryman are preparing for any additional challenges that the pandemic might create in the future. For now, the business partners are content to manage their business at hand while still dreaming of the future.

“We’re happy with our ability to bounce back, but we’d eventually like to be the top seller of any other franchisee in the brand,” said Biggs. “I’m a Marine, and I’m all about serving people. I feel like we’re providing customers with a much-needed service right now, and we’re glad to be a part of that experience for folks.”